Nerds are cool now. This isn't really a statement of controversy. Once upon a time, movies like "Revenge of the Nerds" painted nerds as outcasts, and computers were so arcane that you needed to pursue a very specific - and alienating - skill set to be well-versed with them. Nerds had unpopular interests, were skilled in unpopular hobbies, and were represented in an unflattering way.
Pictured: The '80s.
This is not so anymore. Technology pervades every facet of our society, and computers are no longer the inaccessible tool that they once were. What was once considered a nerdy skill set is now essential knowledge if you want to be a functional worker and consumer. Overall, the things that nerds used to "do" have pushed society's capabilities so far forward that nerdy skills and hobbies have become self-evidently beneficial.
This is a good thing, but it poses a minor problem as to how the term "nerd" should be used. After all, if everybody's a nerd, then nobody's a nerd. The term has lost a lot of its original weight over the past twenty years, but it's still a word that frequently gets tossed around. So what does it even mean anymore?
In some sense, I think that this subject is pretty well-discussed already. Would you like an assessment on what 'nerd' actually
means - the criteria behind qualifying for the label? Look at this
blog post. You want a rant on how modern nerds aren't
really nerds - that the term has not only mutated, but bastardized and misused? Look at this
blog post, instead. There are enough people eager to call themselves nerdy - and enough people eager to tell that first category of people that they're not so nerdy - that this subject's been discussed many times over.
I'll spare you that discussion. It's old and it's boring. Let's talk about nerds and consumer culture, and how they've become nearly synonymous with one another.
